The cruise industry is “working proactively to implement lessons learned” from the Costa Concordia disaster, said Christine Duffy, president and CEO of CLIA.
“We’re not waiting for regulators to tell us what to do,” she said.
In a Travel Weekly interview on Friday, Duffy pointed to CLIA’s Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review, announced in late January, and said it would target operational and human factors involved in onboard safety.
She noted that the member cruise lines of CLIA, the European Cruise Council and the U.K.-based Passenger Shipping Association adopted a policy that requires passenger muster drills be completed before ships leave port.
“We will make sure that the agent community is in the loop and aware of valuable information and the decisions that come out of this ongoing review,” she said.
Duffy emphasized that cruising is safe, and said that CLIA would take steps to educate consumers about the industry’s safety record.
Between 2002 and 2011, she said, 153 million took a cruise. “If you include all crew, it’s 233 million people. And there have been 28 marine-related fatalities, which is extremely low compared to any other recreational activity or transportation,” Duffy said.
While even one fatality is too many, she added, “It’s important for the public to understand the record that the industry does have.”
The 3,200-passenger Costa Concordia hit rocks close to the Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13. Sixteen people died and at least 16 remain missing.
Follow Donna Tunney on Twitter @dttravelweekly.